The History of Buddhist Thought c26.39

c26.39

But before the final conclusion is reached an elaborate system of epistemology and ontology is set out. We find the same general concepts as in the *Laṅkāvatāra*, the eight consciousnesses, the three forms of self-existence, and the *vāsanās*. The *vāsanās* (results of actions) are called seeds (*bīja*). These exist in the store-consciousness, and always in time bear fruit. What we have here is a theory which rests on the same data as the doctrine of karma. But while karma is only a theory of the moral consequences of willed action, the *vāsanā* theory is wider, and it is applied chiefly to explain the error of thought which posits an external world. Different views were held as to why the seeds should exist in the store-consciousness at all. One view was that they were natural and had always been there, another that they had all been produced by "perfuming". Dharmapāla’s view was that there were some of both kinds.¹ This view of "natural" seeds shows that we have a theory which cannot be entirely identified with the karma theory. The question as to how the process began does not arise, for the question of an absolute beginning always remained an excluded question.